Keokuk County

LANGUAGE

The Census asks questions about language use at home to locate groups of people who speak a language other than English. Their isolation or integration into a primarily English speaking community can be determined by their ability to speak English proficiently.

Language Spoken at Home, 1990-2000

1990

2000

Number

Percent

Number

Percent

Only English

10,668

98.13%

10,573

98.56%

Spanish

70

0.64%

98

0.91%

Other Indo-European*

116

1.07%

49

0.46%

Asian Language**

14

0.13%

8

0.07%

Other

3

0.03%

0

0.00%

Total Population Age 5+

10,871

100.00%

10,728

100.00%

Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000

Language Spoken at Home:

Number

Percent

Spanish

24

24.49%

Other Indo-European*

8

16.33%

Asian Language**

8

100.00%

Other Language

0

-

Total

40

0.37%

Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990

Language Spoken at Home:

Number

Percent

Spanish

30

42.86%

Other Indo-European*

46

39.66%

Asian Language**

4

28.57%

Other Language

0

-

Total

80

0.74%

* "Other Indo-European" excludes English and Spanish. "Indo-European" is not synonymous with "European." French, German, Hindi, and Persian are all classified as Indo-European. Hungarian, on the other hand, is lumped into "Other Language."

** "Asian Language" includes languages indigenous to Asia and Pacific islands areas that are not also Indo-European languages. Chinese, Japanese, Telugu, and Hawaiian are all classified here.

Also note that ability to speak English "very well" is based on the self-assessment of those responding to Census questions, not on a test of language ability.